Stephanie White is giving her first press conference since being named the head coach of the Indiana Fever in 2024. White, a Purdue grad from West Lebanon, Indiana, is coming back to the Fever. She spent six seasons with the Fever, two as head coach in 2015 and 2016. "I am incredibly proud and honored to return home to Indiana and lead the Fever during such a pivotal moment in this franchise's history, as well as during during such an important time throughout women's athletics," said White. "This franchise has and always will be committed to winning and I look forward to working every day to help deliver another WNBA title to the greatest basketball fans in the world." White just finished her second year as head coach of the Connecticut Sun. She led the team to consecutive WNBA semifinals appearances. Her record was a combined 55-25. In 2023, she was named the WNBA Coach of the Year and the Associated Press's Coach of Year. She also was a head coach in the 2023 WNBA All-Star game. In her two years as Fever head coach, White took the Fever to the 2015 WNBA Finals. Her record over the two years was 37-31. White has spent 17 seasons in the WNBA, five of them as a player. She was acquired by the Fever ahead of the inaugural 2000 season. She was the last player of that original team to leave. “As we enter this new era of Fever basketball, I am thrilled to welcome Stephanie back to the franchise,” said Fever President of Basketball Operations Kelly Krauskopf. “Stephanie is a part of the fabric of this franchise, both as a former player and as a member of our championship coaching staff, so I’m quite familiar with her elite basketball IQ and leadership style. I am confident there is no one who better understands our culture or is more equipped to lead our group of players to the next level.” White was inducted into the Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame in 2022. Continuing the development of Caitlin Clark will be one of White's biggest goals as head coach. But the two women have already shown respect for one another. White was one of the first WNBA coaches to leap to Clark's defense after the Fever got off to a 1-8 start in her rookie season. "When I'm looking at all these things that people are talking about with Caitlin Clark, it's like, 'Guys, chill out. She's going to be fine,'" Stephanie White said in an ESPN article from May 2024. "It's two games in. Are you kidding me?" Around the same time, Clark talked about White during a postgame interview. "I just think she has a really great basketball mind," Clark said. "She's been a trailblazer, honestly. I think she's always been somebody that's been supportive of my game and it's been fun to talk to her at shoot arounds throughout my college career." White worked as a college basketball analyst for ESPN and the Big Ten Network since 2007. It wasn't until 2024 that Clark first saw White as part of an opposing team. "The biggest thing," Clark said in May. "Is it's just fun to go against her now from my first time after her calling a lot of my games. Now I get to play against her. So, I think that's going to be a lot of fun for both of us." White was named the new head coach just days after the Fever "parted ways" with former head coach Christie Sides. Sides finished her two years with the Fever with a 33-47 regular-season record. In August 2024, Sides became the first coach in franchise history to be named WNBA Coach of the Month. The Fever rebounded from a 1-8 start to make the playoffs. The team finished with a 20-20 record and lost in the first round of the playoffs to the Sun.